Spain and Portugal top the list as holidaymakers seek safety

The Iberian peninsula, Malta and Greece have been the beneficiaries of tourists’ changed travel plans

Spain is benefiting from the change of venue from North African and Turkish resorts, with Ryanair increasing flights to the Costa del Sol and Thomas Cook back in Benidorm.
Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

Tunisia was the first big casualty. The holiday industry accounted for 80% of arrivals to the country and more than 15% of its gross domestic product in 2014, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Tourism in Tunisia had been forecast to show stellar growth in 2015, but that came to an abrupt halt when 38 people (30 of them British) were gunned down on the beach in Sousse last June.

The result? Empty hotels, staff laid off and locals suffering from a near complete lack of income. The tour operators switched their flights, adding departures to Egypt, Turkey and Spain, and we all carried on holidaying.

Egypt was the next to suffer. Road blocks and armed police have been commonplace there for years, yet the Metrojet crash that killed all 224 people on board changed everything. With more than 900,000 Britons visiting Egypt each year, and a large chunk of those heading to the area of Sharm el-Sheikh, again it has been the local people who rely on tourism for their livelihoods who have suffered. A recent knife attack in Hurghada, 50 miles across the Red Sea from Sharm, has not helped confidence, although for now holidays continue to be offered at a knockdown rate as Russian tourists stay away.

Turkey is potentially the most worrying from a travel industry perspective. Until the Istanbul attack, we had experienced very few problems in the areas frequented by holidaymakers. The fantastic Mediterranean beach resorts had continued to operate all through 2015 trouble-free, but now we are seeing people switching their searches away.

Paris also saw a dip in searches around the terror attacks last November, especially to Disneyland Paris, but it has now almost recovered, according to inquiries made on TravelSupermarket.

So where is the slack being taken up? The obvious winner is Spain. It is considered a safe destination, with the days of Eta terrorism over, offers exceptional value for money, and the airlines and tour operators are adding departures as never before. Ryanair put 70,000 more seats last week on its Costa del Sol routes, and Thomas Cook is back in Benidorm, just as the ITV show of the same name hits our screens again.

Portugal is another winner, with searches up 10%. The Algarve always delivers; it’s cheap and it’s easily accessible from the UK. Bulgaria is seeing an increase in interest of more than 5%. Other destinations experiencing surges are Malta (up more than 26%), the Dominican Republic (24%), Italy (17%) and Greece (8%).

As the year goes on, it will be interesting to see whether these trends escalate or dissipate and where we end up taking our holidays in 2016. However, one thing is for sure – we will still take our holidays. It’s something that is seen now as a right, not a luxury.